1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to determining acceptability and detecting a defective area of an inspected apparatus having a plurality of functional blocks.
2. Discussion of the Background
To inspect an apparatus, device, and/or integrated circuit (hereinafter, collectively referred to as the “inspected apparatus”) having a plurality of functional blocks, test data is input to the inspected apparatus causing the inspected apparatus to generate processed data. The processed data is then compared to reference data having an expected value reflecting processed data of an acceptable inspected apparatus. Based on the comparison, the acceptability of the inspected apparatus is determined.
To further detect which of the functional blocks is attributable to a defect, the above determination process is performed for each functional block, for example, by temporarily stopping operations of the functional blocks not being inspected.